Tabs

Saturday, 2 August 2008

USA: San Diego...déjà vu?

Last year's trip to San Diego was memorable for Gulf Air's incompetence and Mrs M's very short fuse. Surely the same thing could not happen this year?

In the afternoon before departure, Lufthansa’s website stated that the flight had been cancelled. The travel agent assured me that he'd been trying to call regarding the change (using the medium of thought transference it would seem). My carefully planned journey was now going to take around thirty-five hours with British Airways, including a bonus six hour stop in Heathrow tomorrow morning.

At the airport, I could hardly contain my excitement as the chap in the Lufthansa office hand-wrote three tickets on flimsy paper, one for each leg. Without a hint of remorse, he informed me that the BA desk did not open for another hour. Super.

During check-in, the boarding cards were accompanied by a letter apologising for a one-hour delay in departure due to an earlier problem. ETD now 01:00. Even more super.

A few bottom-numbing hours later, the information board announced a further delay. ETD now 02:10. This was not going well. The bingy-bong sound followed by, 'May I have your attention please....' every minute was really begging to irritate. And yet another announcement 'regretting' the delay on BA 072 due to a technical problem....sigh.